Oh I love this. I love malls. I saw a Connor o’Malley perform at a comedy club located in a mall. He referred to malls as a zoo for people. I think that’s pretty accurate!
HAAAA! That is spot on. I’m rarely in them myself, but the handful of times in the last few years, I’ve definitely done my fair share of people watching. I think the mall could rise again!!! :) Thanks Maria!
Seeing Columbia Mall in Grand Forks, North Dakota last year kind of made this obvious for me. Where once there was life was there is now a collection of empty storefronts.
On the other hand, malls seem to be alive and well here in Canada. Maybe that was because we have less people than the U.S. and therefore can generate enough profits to stay in business without going broke spending for extras...
I'm glad to hear that David. You are probably right and I think the skyrocketing costs of retail spaces plays a big role. It's too bad that they can't capture that same kind of adolescent space that I remember. This generation's loss! Although you can't tell them that :) Thanks my friend!
The nearest mall to me, Grant Park, is still going good. It helps that it has a locally owned grocery store, a financially stable anchor in Canadian Tire, and the biggest and best bookstore in town, McNally Robinson.
Though the Pirate's Den arcade has been gone for a long time...Then it would have seemed more like a "Stranger Things"-era place.
Oh this brings back memories. My very first job was in a hole-in-the-wall hot dog shop in one of the first malls in Southern California. I was paid the princely sum of $1.70 an hour ... but the stolen – er, um... – the "free" food was an awesome fringe benefit. (This was back when I burned fuel like a hummingbird (6'4" 170 lbs, essentially a human stripper pole. But I digress.)
It's really sad what's happening to malls near and far, but we'll always have fond memories. Thank you for conjuring some of them up.
We never forget those mall jobs, right? Between the co-workers, customers, and the happenings in the mall itself-they were really choice gigs in a lot of ways!
I wonder how many GenX women ended up crying in a mall over a plate of nachos or French fries because of some boy?! Count me in! And when I worked at Coach House Gifts in HS (and learned how to fold the perfect T-shirt!), my 20-minute breaks were sprinting to get a Cinnabon and inhaling as much of it as I could before going back on the floor. Ah, the good old days!! Thanks for the laughs and walk down memory lane! XO
Yeah. We could start a Foodcourt Nachos and Tears support group, couldn't we? I worked at a Disney Store and remember using those plastic sleeve type things to get the perfect, creased fold. And you know what? Those skills have come in more handy than Algebra! I don't think we've heard the last of the Mall! :) Thanks my friend!
The mall here has actually made a serious comeback since the pandemic when it was reduced to a ghost town filled with empty stores. There are some "weird" niche purveyors about, like a massage parlor, a store that only sells leggings, and an escape room. But our mall still has a lot of the classics I remember as a tween/teen. Including an ORANGE JULIUS!!! Took my ten-year-old daughter to Claire's for earrings and hair bling and to Bath and Body Works to find her "signature scent" for back-to-school. Hot Topic, Abercrombie, Express, Gloria Jean Coffee, Macy's, JC Penny ... No escalator for us ... but there are skylights.
Where I grew up we had TWO malls that basically shared a parking lot. I think one was supposed to more or less replace the other ... deemed the "better" mall, but there were a few stores you could only find at the old mall and somehow they stayed in business for a long time.
The only job I ever had at the mall was at Victoria Secret! I worked there one winter when my old college roommate was a manager. I made no money because I spent it all on underwear. 😜
WOW! Your mall is the portal to 1990!!! GET IN THERE AND TAKE US WITH YOU! That's fantastic. I'm happy to see that kind of culture hanging on a bit more at least. That is hilarious about your Victoria Secret job. How many of us angled to work at places JUST for the discount? Yep.
1) No piece on the 80s mall scene would be complete without a Tiffany reference.
2) Even though I was technically a “jock” in hs I was the rare breed of jock that had few friends and even fewer female admirers. So, alas, the mall was not my happy place.
3) This is the first I’ve heard of your extraordinarily funny women book. I mustn’t have been paying attention. That situation has been rectified. Book arrives to me Friday 👍🏼
Henny--you are a man among manly man men! I can't thank you enough for the generosity and support and hopefully some new funny broads sliding across your radar! Yay! You raise a good point. The mall was not for all :) Truthfully, I was never cool enough to be hanging out in the food court in some choice location or hanging around some kiosk where the popular boy worked. Like I said, I was playing my own version of The Carol Burnett Show in these places. Maybe it was a gentle blessing that our mall was not one of those high end places where mean girls ruled etc. I repeat: POP ARTISTS--GET UP ON THE MALL! I really think it's an untapped entertainment market. It certainly remains an untapped retail market :)
I loved this article, Sheila. You always make me laugh - a real lift of spirits. Our huge mall here in Santa Cruz is just plain SAD. So depressing to see so many closed shops and so many shops selling ridiculous Chinese crap that no one needs. All that is left is an icky food court, a Target and Kohls. And a Chiles restaurant that doesn't even know how to make a Margarita. Boo Hoo.
Thanks Sharron! Always :) I also feel so, so sad for malls. The people working in them look like they've been given a sentence, not a job. I remember when you had to beat out the competition to work at one of those stores. Maybe some enterprising minds will figure out how to give these spaces new life. Psst: those minds work at Cinnabun! Clearly. :)
God, I miss how AMAZING and fun and exciting it was go to to the mall! We had to drive an hour away to the big city of Toledo, Ohio which only increased the glamour. I was always desperate to make a pit stop by Barnes & Noble after. Gah.
It was a WHOLE DEAL, wasn't it? You're right..there was this weird anticipation...even though mostly the same stuff happened or you saw the same people, there was always the sense that something AMAZING could shake down. The first time I encountered a bookstore IN a mall I thought "these must be the luckiest people in the WORLD." Kids today do NOT EVEN KNOW!! They don't.
Oh I love this. I love malls. I saw a Connor o’Malley perform at a comedy club located in a mall. He referred to malls as a zoo for people. I think that’s pretty accurate!
HAAAA! That is spot on. I’m rarely in them myself, but the handful of times in the last few years, I’ve definitely done my fair share of people watching. I think the mall could rise again!!! :) Thanks Maria!
Seeing Columbia Mall in Grand Forks, North Dakota last year kind of made this obvious for me. Where once there was life was there is now a collection of empty storefronts.
On the other hand, malls seem to be alive and well here in Canada. Maybe that was because we have less people than the U.S. and therefore can generate enough profits to stay in business without going broke spending for extras...
I'm glad to hear that David. You are probably right and I think the skyrocketing costs of retail spaces plays a big role. It's too bad that they can't capture that same kind of adolescent space that I remember. This generation's loss! Although you can't tell them that :) Thanks my friend!
The nearest mall to me, Grant Park, is still going good. It helps that it has a locally owned grocery store, a financially stable anchor in Canadian Tire, and the biggest and best bookstore in town, McNally Robinson.
Though the Pirate's Den arcade has been gone for a long time...Then it would have seemed more like a "Stranger Things"-era place.
Oh that sounds DREAMY! Can we do a Bring Back Pirate's Den write in campaign??? :)
You can do practically any sort of campaign like that on Change.org these days…
THE DREAM IS ALIVE!!! :)
Working in the uncool end of an otherwise pretty cool mall was quite a ride. Working in retail can be a gauntlet, but we sure had a lot of fun.
#WashingtonSquare4Lyfe
I bet you made it the cool end! Agreed-retail soldiers are a special unit for life 💗
I like that you think that, and I will do absolutely nothing to change it. 😀
I’ll start the whisper campaign up here 😉
F**kin' Kevins, man...
Oh this brings back memories. My very first job was in a hole-in-the-wall hot dog shop in one of the first malls in Southern California. I was paid the princely sum of $1.70 an hour ... but the stolen – er, um... – the "free" food was an awesome fringe benefit. (This was back when I burned fuel like a hummingbird (6'4" 170 lbs, essentially a human stripper pole. But I digress.)
It's really sad what's happening to malls near and far, but we'll always have fond memories. Thank you for conjuring some of them up.
We never forget those mall jobs, right? Between the co-workers, customers, and the happenings in the mall itself-they were really choice gigs in a lot of ways!
I wonder how many GenX women ended up crying in a mall over a plate of nachos or French fries because of some boy?! Count me in! And when I worked at Coach House Gifts in HS (and learned how to fold the perfect T-shirt!), my 20-minute breaks were sprinting to get a Cinnabon and inhaling as much of it as I could before going back on the floor. Ah, the good old days!! Thanks for the laughs and walk down memory lane! XO
Yeah. We could start a Foodcourt Nachos and Tears support group, couldn't we? I worked at a Disney Store and remember using those plastic sleeve type things to get the perfect, creased fold. And you know what? Those skills have come in more handy than Algebra! I don't think we've heard the last of the Mall! :) Thanks my friend!
Yes!! I had to fold WITHOUT the plastic template! Fold, fold, flip, flip!!
You are NEXT LEVEL! 💥💥💥
The mall here has actually made a serious comeback since the pandemic when it was reduced to a ghost town filled with empty stores. There are some "weird" niche purveyors about, like a massage parlor, a store that only sells leggings, and an escape room. But our mall still has a lot of the classics I remember as a tween/teen. Including an ORANGE JULIUS!!! Took my ten-year-old daughter to Claire's for earrings and hair bling and to Bath and Body Works to find her "signature scent" for back-to-school. Hot Topic, Abercrombie, Express, Gloria Jean Coffee, Macy's, JC Penny ... No escalator for us ... but there are skylights.
Where I grew up we had TWO malls that basically shared a parking lot. I think one was supposed to more or less replace the other ... deemed the "better" mall, but there were a few stores you could only find at the old mall and somehow they stayed in business for a long time.
The only job I ever had at the mall was at Victoria Secret! I worked there one winter when my old college roommate was a manager. I made no money because I spent it all on underwear. 😜
WOW! Your mall is the portal to 1990!!! GET IN THERE AND TAKE US WITH YOU! That's fantastic. I'm happy to see that kind of culture hanging on a bit more at least. That is hilarious about your Victoria Secret job. How many of us angled to work at places JUST for the discount? Yep.
Thanks for this trip down nostalgia lane! So many core memories unlocked. I really want an Orange Julius right now lolol.
Yeah…maybe if we just bring back the Julius there will be some kind of space-time continuum reset….it’s worth a try!!
1) No piece on the 80s mall scene would be complete without a Tiffany reference.
2) Even though I was technically a “jock” in hs I was the rare breed of jock that had few friends and even fewer female admirers. So, alas, the mall was not my happy place.
3) This is the first I’ve heard of your extraordinarily funny women book. I mustn’t have been paying attention. That situation has been rectified. Book arrives to me Friday 👍🏼
Henny--you are a man among manly man men! I can't thank you enough for the generosity and support and hopefully some new funny broads sliding across your radar! Yay! You raise a good point. The mall was not for all :) Truthfully, I was never cool enough to be hanging out in the food court in some choice location or hanging around some kiosk where the popular boy worked. Like I said, I was playing my own version of The Carol Burnett Show in these places. Maybe it was a gentle blessing that our mall was not one of those high end places where mean girls ruled etc. I repeat: POP ARTISTS--GET UP ON THE MALL! I really think it's an untapped entertainment market. It certainly remains an untapped retail market :)
Maybe us writers should stake a claim
Oh that is a VERY good idea! I would be honored to do a reading against the backdrop of Speedy Wok. Yes please!!
I’ll do mine in front of the defunct Orange Julius
This is the way. I’ll be downstairs appearing in front of the Sugar Cinnamon Pumpkin Spice Scrub in the Bath and Body Works
I loved this article, Sheila. You always make me laugh - a real lift of spirits. Our huge mall here in Santa Cruz is just plain SAD. So depressing to see so many closed shops and so many shops selling ridiculous Chinese crap that no one needs. All that is left is an icky food court, a Target and Kohls. And a Chiles restaurant that doesn't even know how to make a Margarita. Boo Hoo.
Thanks Sharron! Always :) I also feel so, so sad for malls. The people working in them look like they've been given a sentence, not a job. I remember when you had to beat out the competition to work at one of those stores. Maybe some enterprising minds will figure out how to give these spaces new life. Psst: those minds work at Cinnabun! Clearly. :)
Oh nooooo. I feel a carbohydrate stupor coming on….
God, I miss how AMAZING and fun and exciting it was go to to the mall! We had to drive an hour away to the big city of Toledo, Ohio which only increased the glamour. I was always desperate to make a pit stop by Barnes & Noble after. Gah.
It was a WHOLE DEAL, wasn't it? You're right..there was this weird anticipation...even though mostly the same stuff happened or you saw the same people, there was always the sense that something AMAZING could shake down. The first time I encountered a bookstore IN a mall I thought "these must be the luckiest people in the WORLD." Kids today do NOT EVEN KNOW!! They don't.